According to The Hollywood Reporter, Heller is suing pretty much everyone involved in the recent NWA biopic “Straight Outta Compton” over his portrayal in the film.
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The group, which broke up after the release of their last album in 1991, has helped launch the careers of Ice Cube and Dr. Dre and brought gangsta rap into the mainstream. He also says he never offered Cube a $75,000 cheque and has denied ever being fired by Eazy-E. When the movie came out, Heller and his legal team went through the movie frame by frame and took copious notes on everything that was false and damaging before ultimately deciding to file the lawsuit, Shapiro said.
Heller was the group’s manager and was portrayed in the movie by actor Paul Giamatti.
“The insidiousness of Defendants’ behavior is underscored by the fact that the Film may well become the largest globally grossing music-story based film ever…”
It’s hard to say how likely it is that Heller will win the lawsuit, but his attorneys seem to believe the huge success of “Straight Outta Compton” could aid the defamation claims. “The larger the success of the film, the greater the damages to plaintiff”, Heller’s case states. It’s the fourteenth highest-grossing film of the year at the domestic box office.
TMZ reports that NBC Universal and the Estate of Eazy-E were also included in the lawsuit.
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A spokesperson for Universal told Deadline the studio had no comment on the suit.
